


Love Over A Rose Bush

by retro_tinlizzy



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Humor, M/M, greg's cat - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 03:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20521511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retro_tinlizzy/pseuds/retro_tinlizzy





	1. Runaway Cat

Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade peeked out of his patio door on a bright Sunday morning, seeking the cat so named by his daughter as “Scrumptious”. It was impossible to call for the damned thing without a high, fair voice, even if the inspector would sometimes like to wrench its neck. He would never do that - out of love for his daughter and fear for his ex-wife - but the thought tempted his mind every time it ran off. Or every time it found itself on top of the roof, in the neighbor’s trash, or taking its fury out on a roll of toilet tissue.

The thought of the cat’s shenanigans were pushed out of his mind as Gregory saw the tail disappearing behind a row of the neighbor’s rose bushes. Not only would he have to drag the cat from a bed of thorns, but he would have to interact with the mysterious person next door.

He had rarely interacted with the man, but knew enough to say the mad bastard didn’t belong in this place. Not with Lestrade set out in some off house, little to no yard, and a row of houses where the roofs all leaked. Someone who dressed in prim suits, carried proper umbrellas, and showed the signs of being a true government employee…Well they didn’t belong here. Not out someplace where their cars might get stolen at any moment and the tired detective on the street would instantly be called to duty.

Lestrade settled the frustrations in his head once more, reaching around the rose bush for the cat and saying, “Scrumptious, where have you run off to this time? If you’ve gotten yourself hurt, you little helpless boy, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.” He grabbed at the form in the bushes and asked, “Whatever are you doing, love?”  
“Well I was planning on trimming my roses, but your cat has come to assist me.”

Lestrade looked up to see the proper neighbor from next door, the one whose yard he was currently kneeling in and the one who was currently holding his cat. The man looked so much different today, so much younger than all the times Greg had seen him walk to the lonely house.

“You seem a bit shocked by what is happening. Let me help you up and then we can talk about all that has occurred.”

He gladly took the aid that was offered, while seeing the man struggle to hold the cat and pull the inspector up from the ground. He did look rather young in gardening clothes and a floppy sun hat, holding a cat and staring back with nearly twinkling eyes. It was a few more moments of silence before Greg realized he still had the man’s hand in his own and he quickly released it.  
Greg didn’t want to let go but it was the polite thing to do. They stood for a moment more before he said, “I know you’ve lived over there for a few months, but we’ve never been introduced. My name is Greg.”

His hand was extended once more and it was met with a tight grip and the name that followed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Greg. And to answer your question, my name is Mycroft.”

_Mycroft? Surely it has to be a different one,_ thought Greg.

“This is rather forward and out of my usual behavior, Mycroft, but perhaps once you return my cat, you would like to join me in a cup of tea.”  
“That sounds lovely, my dear Inspector Lestrade.”


	2. Teaspoons Can Be Deadly

Lestrade was surprised by the use of the title, realizing that the staunch government official standing before him in denim and a ratty shirt was most likely the same Mycroft he had heard whispers of. Sherlock would often complain, when sober, about the control his brother was setting down for him as the “incorrect behavior” went on. That man was described as being the government. Not just working for the crown and serving the people, but having the power of the crown working for him. Greg realized that the same man whom he had sworn to hurt if any harm came to Sherlock, was the same one that he was currently flirting with. And still the same man holding the cat called Scrumptious.

He guided Mycroft inside without another word and started preparing their cups. It only took a quick turn of the knob to set the kettle to heating. Greg took a tin of biscuits down from the cupboard, placed a few on a tray, and placed them on the table in front of Mycroft.

“Would you care for anything in your tea, Mycroft?” With a grin Greg added, “Aside from the cat hairs doomed to fall into your cup.”

The man looked down at the hairs being left by the ever grumbling cat, but made no movement to brush them off. Lestrade would have expected him to be fussing by the mess Scrumptious was causing or at least making some snide comment, if the descriptions from Sherlock were anything to go by. He thought back to all of the things his little consulting detective had said and laughed at the possibility of these two people being related.

After setting the cat on the floor, Mycroft looked up with a look of concern.

“Are you alright, Gregory? Did something amusing happen that I have been left unaware of?”

Greg ignored his concern and went back to the stove, waiting for the kettle to start whistling and the tea to be served. It would be several minutes of awkward silence while their cups brewed unless Lestrade jumped straight in for the action that he was seeking. If this did turn out to be the elder Holmes brother, Greg wasn’t quite sure he wanted to get mixed up with the man. Even if the sex was good. And if this was the elder Holmes, it was likely that he had moved into the shoddy row of houses to keep surveillance on the only detective who would listen to Sherlock.

He turned back with the intent of springing an interrogation on Mycroft and asked, “Mycroft, I do have to ask you something because your presence does raise some questions for the busy body folks of this row.”

The man at the table simply nodded, a worry striking across his forehead.

“Why would someone like you move to a place like this?”  
“As far as I know it’s allowed under free will to live wherever I like,” Mycroft answered while fidgeting with one of the tea spoons. “And I certainly didn’t take you for a busy body, Gregory. You might think yourself an old lady, but you really are quite attractive.”

If the compliment was meant to throw Lestrade off…

It certainly did.

It took him a moment to recover before he could find a competent answer in his head, but it still came out as an angry shout.

“Maybe I just want to know if there’s snipers pointed at my house, just because I decided to help some kid out of the gutter, and now his brother has some sort of ill intent for me.”

The man at the table with the teaspoon in his hand had made no movement, only staring back with the piercing eyes that Lestrade was trying not to find so attractive.

“Aren’t you going to give me an answer, you arse? You came in here for a cup of tea, and you’re not at all bothered by my dawning realization that you could kill me at any moment?”


	3. How About You Just Kiss Me?

Greg knew how the accusation sounded. He had heard the angry fits before from people in interrogation rooms and similar ones from his ex-wife. The mood had shifted so quickly from their soft, fluffy flirting. And now Greg stood armed with a butter knife, and Mycroft with an equally dangerous teaspoon. They could certainly inflict damage on each other if they were willing to try anything, but neither of them were making a move from the small kitchen to the equally small dining room.

“So? What are you going to say?”

Mycroft remained seated and managed to remain calm as he said, “I know what you must have realized by now and I assure that my intentions have changed. You must understand that I care dearly for the same person I’m sure you’re concerned with, and in this period of surveillance I’ve come to care for you.”

The statement crossed Greg as being half heart warming and half crazy, but it still didn’t calm all of the alarms ringing in his head. The longer that Lestrade stood studying the man before him, he questioned why he hadn’t noticed any signs of surveillance previously. He didn’t have the quick eyes of Sherlock, but surely he couldn’t have been so dull to miss someone lurking about the windows. And maybe the post man had been going through his mail before slipping it into the box.

“I couldn’t possibly know what you are thinking about currently, Gregory, but I really did just come in here to ask you for a cup of tea. And perhaps to recover from the shock of finding yourself willing to be entertained with me.”  
“But-”  
“You would be right in questioning the mail person, but they weren’t working for me. The man is simply another scoundrel of the government stealing coupons from others’ flyers and creating doubt in the hearts of the busy bodies on this row.”

The once again mysterious man reached into the pocket of the denims, leaving Greg tense against the counter for whatever might happen.

“You have no need for concern, Inspector. I was simply taking out a few pounds to pay you for the tea, seeing as I won’t be allowed to drink it here.”

Mycroft crossed the room to place the coins in his hand and Greg realized he had the man within arm’s reach now. If only he could grab him while he had the chance, kiss him, and tell him that he didn’t have to go off and be so damn dramatic. But Lestrade was being a rather damn dramatic himself. He took the coins that were offered, and set them down on the counter next to cups of tea, keeping Mycroft’s hand linked with his own.

“Mycroft, can I ask you one more question before you go?”

He looked down between his fingers intertwined with Greg’s and up towards meeting the inspector again.

“Hmm?”  
“I know I can’t make you stay after everything I’ve said, but just out of curiosity are you a top or a bottom?”

Greg saw him choke on air as he slowly spun them around to have Mycroft beneath him as they laid against the counter. He was so very close to kissing the man that the inspector could stand the temptation no longer and took what he had wanted at the beginning of the whole fight - Mycroft Holmes’ lips.

“I think you’ve already a decided a role for me, Gregory, and I must commend your detective work for applying such a thing,” Mycroft commented while picking up the mug and bringing it to his lips. “Thank you for the lovely cup of tea, but perhaps you would like something more from me than complimenting your tea making ability. Surely a man with these skills has plenty of others?”

Suddenly the tea was forgotten, nearly spilling it on the counter Mycroft was quickly being set on, and Greg was no longer concerned with the danger involved. Snipers be damned he was going to have Mycroft Holmes.

“And in case you are wondering, Gregory, there are snipers watching my house, but not yours.”  
Pulling back from the kiss, Lestrade asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have my bedroom under surveillance, would you?”  
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Detective Inspector.”  
While leaning back in for taking another kiss, Greg whispered in his ear, “Then why don’t we go upstairs, mister?”


End file.
